OT: The Recipe Thread

[A String]

Got a great recipe to share? Post it here!

[blueross]

I love this forum! My two hobbies (cooking and the obvious) come together. I'll add to this later.

 

But as a non-recipe contribution, my wife and I are trying to start a habit to help us cook at home more. She picks out several recipes for the week from our cook books or our Cooking Light magazines. Gives us something to shoot for at the grocery store. And then I whip them up when the time comes. She's a planner, I'm not. I cook from recipes, she improvises and doesn't really "do" recipes. And since I like trying new things, it should keep us from getting into a rut or giving up and going out to eat.

 

We cooked up the idea years ago but only recently put it into practice. So far so good. Having fun.

 

And a confession: My GAS extends to the kitchen. We got married recently and most of the gifts were kitchen oriented and basically for me.

[A String]

A nice simple treat:

 

Red Pepper Jelly

 

1 Cup Juice from red peppers

3 1/2 Cups Sugar

1/2 Cup Vinegar

2 1/2 TBSP Hot Sauce (I use tabasco)

1/2 Bottle or one pouch Certo.

 

Run red peppers through a grinder or a food processor and then strain out the juice.

 

Sterilize a few jars.

 

Add all the ingredients except the Certo to a pot and bring to a boil for about 1 minute, then add the Certo.

 

Pour into jars and scrape the foam off of the top.

 

Put the lids on the jars and wait until set.

 

Serve on a cracker, spread with a little cream cheese.

[Caevan O’Shite]

A nice simple treat:

 

Red Pepper Jelly

 

Serve on a cracker, spread with a little cream cheese.

 

Mmmmm, sounds good; I'll hafta try that, A'!

 

 

Hehh hehh hehh... you know I'll be a repeat-poste on this thread!

 

How's 'bouts s'm o' Kev's own Burnt-Pecan Chicken? (Warning: in no way, shape or form could this possibly be misconstrued as 'healthy' or 'heart-smart', but it sure is tasty for once-inna-while indulgence!)

 

Boneless, skinless chicken breast(s)

 

Pecan-halves (the fresher, the better)

 

Fresh Parsely, finely chopped (again, the fresher, the better)

 

Egg(s)

 

Lee & Perrins-brand worcestershire-sauce

 

Grated Parmesan &/or Romano cheese (I prefer a blend of the two)

 

Fresh cracked black pepper (whole pepper-corns in a grinder/peppe-mill)

 

Chicken-base (low-salt/sodium is a plus)

 

Flour

 

Heavy Cream

 

'Sarah Lee'-brand Pecan & Brown-Sugar moustard

 

Olive oil

 

Unsalted butter

 

Long-grain and wild rice ("Uncle Ben's" rice-mix in the box is great for this.)

 

Cook your rice; set aside, covered, and keep it warm.

 

Beat the egg(s) with a whip/wisk; add just a drop or two of the worc.-sauce, then some chopped fresh parsely, a very small pinch of chicken-base, and Parm/Romano cheese. (This is your "egg-wash" for breading the chicken.) Set aside in a container just big enough for a chicken breast or two to easily fit into.

 

Crush some pecan-halves, about 1/8-cup or so per serving; thoroughly mix the crushed pecans and some cracked black pepper through the flour. Set aside.

 

Heat up a bone-dry, un-oiled cast-iron frying-pan; as it begins getting hot, toss in enough UN-crushed) pecan-halves to cover the bottom of the pan, and continue to toast 'em till they're actually turning black; dump 'em into a bowl and set aside, setting the pan down, removed from heat for now. Wipe out the pan with a paper-towel afterwards (don't burn yourself), and add some olive-oil, just enough to cook with.

 

One-at-a-time, dredge a chicken-breast through the flour, then the egg, repeating as you see fit to bread as much or as little as you prefer. (Your fingers are gonna get very caked-up with a gluey layer of this! I used to know a restaurant-chef who worked so fast, he'd develop cooked layer of this sort of breading as his finger-tips would occasionally hit the oil in the saute-pans; it was like he had little pot-holders keeping the heat from his finger-tips!)

 

Over medium-high heat, cook one side of the battered chicken-breast(s) (it helps tremendously of the pan is fairly hot before you add the chicken, otherwise the breading will tend to fall apart; watch and time things so that you don't have to turn down the heat much, if at all, while cooking).

 

Flip the breast(s) over; once the breading has begun to cook on that side, add heavy cream, enough to pretty much drown the chicken. The cream will begin to bubble and boil; add a dose or two or three of the pecan/brown-sugar moustard, however much will suit your taste (don't get too carried away here, though). Then toss in those burnt-toasted pecan-halves, and simmer over medium-high heat till the cream has reduced down by half or more. Remove from heat, and add some unsalted butter, letting it melt and mixing it in with a few careful shakings-around of the pan by its handle.

 

Serve over rice with a side-vegetable of your choice (I'll recommend cut green-beans, sauteed or steamed, to go with this). Mmmmmmm!

[Corner Pocket]

Forget propane or NG grills, go for real slowcooked BBQ with one of these:

 

http://www.traegergrills.com/grills/lil_tex.cfm

 

A 5 pound sirloin tip roast will take 4 to 6 hours to cook at about 200 degrees. That takes it to rare, (140 degrees F internal temp, I don't have the heart to go to well done). I use a couple of different rubs depending on what else I intend to eat. I'll change up the wood pellets part way through to get some different smoke tastes. Other than that, it's very much a set-it-and-forget-it kinda cooker.

 

You will NEVER go back to gas after using one of these.

[alfonso]

Black Cuttlefish Risotto.

 

This is my version of a popular mediterranean recipe.

 

The difficult thing in some countries probably is to find very fresh cuttlefish with its ink inside and to remove the ink without making a mess ( you can say good-by to anything you wear and cleaning it from the floor is a punishment).

 

Anyway, the ink can also be found separately already in small containers.

 

This recipe is something incredibly good, so it's worth to work it out. You have to like sea food a lot.

 

You need for 4 persons:

 

 

1 medium-big cuttlefish and its ink or the equivalent amount bought separately.

350-400 gr. of parboiled rice (any rice good for italian "risotto", avoid basmati and oriental ones, don't fit the recipe.)

4 onions

1 lemon

1 bottle of white dry wine (half for cooking and half for drinking while you cook... )

parsley, quite a bit.

virgin olive oil

salt

white pepper.

 

 

Cut the onions very thin, you can also put them in a blender with a glass of white wine to make them like a cream.

 

Put the onions with that glass of wine and a bit more in a large pan with enough high borders and some olive oil...4-8 spoons, it depends on your taste.

 

Let them go on moderate fire until you can see the liquids reduced and the look is more oily.

 

Cut the cleaned (remove the skin) cuttlefish in small pieces, little stripes not longer than an inch, the ink should be put apart in a glass and well diluted with some wine.

 

Put the cuttlefish in the pan stir a little and cover the pan. reduce progressively the fire and stir it every minute a little for a while...you have to follow it to avoid to burn it or stick it. After 5 minutes add a couple glasses of wine, slowly, trying to keep a certain temperature with stronger fire and stirring slowly.

 

When all the 2 glasses of wine are poured and it keeps boiling, turn the fire at the minimum, cover it, drink a glass of wine relaxed on a sofa for about 20 minutes. Avoid television, books or internet forums, all this stuff is very dangerous because time flies away and you don't recognize it.

 

Now, uncover the pan and taste a cuttlefish piece. It must be tender. Add 1 and 1/2 spoonful of salt, the ink diluted with wine and the rice.

 

Stir it carefully and slowly, watch out your clothes and everything around.

 

Now, this is a lot a matter of experience, but the risotto must be firm enough but not too much, no liquids floating but some creaminess is necessary, the rice must be cooked completely but still "al dente" not overcooked. You will follow it carefully, stirring, regulating the fire (low) and eventually pouring a little bit of boiling water if you see it becomes too dry before the rice is cooked.

 

When the rice is ready you will add the fresh scraped external (only the yellow part) skin of a lemon, the fresh chopped parsley and a bit of ground pepper. Stir.

 

It looks very nice if you put it in a colored big dish (yellow) with a slice of lemon on it and a very small parsley leaves bouquet as a decoration.

 

Serve it with the same wine you used to cook it.

 

[A String]

Hummus

 

2 cloves of garlic

1/4 cup of lemon juice

1/4 cup of water

1 can of chickpeas

1/2 cup Tahini

1/2 tsp salt (The recipe called for 1 tsp, but I found it was ok with 1/2.)

 

Pop ingredients into a food processor and blend.

[alfonso]

Hint: The wine for cooking.

 

Some people think that you can use a cheaper wine for cooking and that it's better to spend more on what you drink.

 

Absolutely wrong! When you cook with wine the alcohol goes away and all that remains is the aromatic quality. A cheap wine will show its bad qualities even more if used for cooking and will ruin everything.

 

Anyway, it's also good to serve the food with the same wine used for cooking, so...

 

 

[Dr. Ellwood]

"1 medium-big cuttlefish and its ink or the equivalent amount bought separately"

 

Remember to NOT USE Pfeffer's Flamboyant Cuttlefish!

 

[Guitar Geezer]

Cuttlefish???????????

 

Have to look that one up.

 

 

Let the Weekend Food Network Junkie think about which recipe to start with. Back in a little bit.

[Caevan O’Shite]

"Hint: The wine for cooking.

 

Some people think that you can use a cheaper wine for cooking and that it's better to spend more on what you drink.

 

Absolutely wrong! When you cook with wine the alcohol goes away and all that remains is the aromatic quality. A cheap wine will show its bad qualities even more if used for cooking and will ruin everything.

 

Anyway, it's also good to serve the food with the same wine used for cooking, so... "

 

Here, here! I totally concurr; also, avoid so-called "cooking wine" (or "cooking sherry", etc.) like the very plague, it's pure crap concocted to make money off low-grade liquid poo that's been salted, peppered, & dubiously seasoned nigh unto death. Buy wine (or whatever liquors/liqueurs/beers/etc.) that you'd actually want to drink with the food (even if you're not likely to drink it); the "cooking" version has too much salt & other stuff that you probably wouldn't put in the dish to begin with.

[MILLO]

excellent, I'll have to save this thread on my favorites

[Dr. Ellwood]

A great alternative to using tomato based sauces for ribs or pork roast is the cherry spoon fruit from American Spoon Foods. http://www.spoon.com/

[Caevan O’Shite]

"A great alternative to using tomato based sauces for ribs or pork roast is the cherry spoon fruit from American Spoon Foods." http://www.spoon.com/

 

Oooooooooh, that sounds good; I think I gained some weight just by reading that!! :grin:

[fantasticsound]

Hint: The wine for cooking.

 

Some people think that you can use a cheaper wine for cooking and that it's better to spend more on what you drink.

 

Absolutely wrong! When you cook with wine the alcohol goes away and all that remains is the aromatic quality. A cheap wine will show its bad qualities even more if used for cooking and will ruin everything.

 

Anyway, it's also good to serve the food with the same wine used for cooking, so...

 

 

I used to do full production for monthly heart healthy cooking shows done by a nutritionist and the head chef for St.Thomas Hospital in Nashville, at locations approx. 2 hours drive out from the city, in conjunction with a local cardiologist in their network. Sound, lights, video (imag) and 35mm slides. (How quaint slides seem, for business presentations, now. But I digress...)

 

The chef always said when it comes to wine in recipes, only cook with something you would drink.

[Michael Patrick]

I just made a killer gumbo this weekend, with chicken, shrimp, and andouille sausage. No recipe, just worked from what I thought would be good... Used fresh stuff from my garden including bell peppers, tomatoes, okra, basil, thyme, and of course garlic.

 

Started with a roux made from olive oil, butter, and flour. Added the trinity (onions, celery, and bell pepper) plus the garlic, sauted that for a few and then added 3 cans of chicken stock. Next went the chicken (bite size pieces of breast meat), sausage, and tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Salt and pepper, a splash or six of Worcesteshire sauce, and hot sauce. The okra went in about 10 minutes before I was ready to serve, and the shrimp about five minutes ahead. Add in the fresh thyme and basil. Last ingredient is the file powder right before you serve it, plus bring the jar to teh table. Serve over rice.

 

 

Mmmmm, I'm hungry...

[alfonso]

"Gricia"

 

This is a fast but very tasty way to make pasta, taken from the ancient tradition of the rural areas around Rome, you'll find it in every roman taverna.

 

What you need for 4:

 

1)2-3 onions, it depends on size.

 

2)a bit of garlic (1 big clove it's ok)

 

3)a couple thick slices of bacon

 

4)olive oil, 4 tablespoons.

 

5)half glass of white or red wine, the same you'll drink.

 

6)50 gr. of ground pecorino cheese.

 

7) hot chili pepper

 

 

The best pasta to use is bucatini, the long one with a hole inside, but any long and quite thick one will be ok. Also very good can be the spaghetti alla chitarra (appreciated in this forum for sure...), the ones with square section.

 

Chop the onions small, grind the garlic after removing it's inner green part, as it's the part which brings most of the side effects, and cut the bacon in stripes first and then in small cubes. Put everything in a large pan with the oil, cover it and let it go on moderate fire.

 

In the meantime you'll bring the water at boiling point, you add 400gr. of pasta and the salt. If you want richer servings you add stuff in proportion.

 

When you are at half of pasta cooking time, you check the pan, things must cook well but not burn, it's a slow fry. At this point you add the wine and if necessary turn the fire up.

 

Now it's a matter of instinct or experience. You will remove the pasta from the boiling water (don't know the proper word...) at least a minute before it's fully cooked, put the chili in the pan and throw the pasta in the pan, while the fire is going.

 

You will move it in the pan with big wooden fork and spoon, to keep it frying and dressing itself for 15-20 secs., then turn off the fire, put half pecorino inside, turn it a little, add the remaining on top and that's it!

 

No salt is needed apart the amount for the water.

 

[alfonso]

Mediterranean Rice & Turkey.

 

Recipe for 4

 

600gr. of Turkey meat cut in thin stripes (If you start with slices, put them one on the other and cut them together with a big knife)

2 Onions

a little garlic

1 spoon honey melted in 1/2 glass wine vinegar

1 spoon sesame seeds

2 spoons pine seeds (a.k.a.pine nuts)

2 spoons raisins

Spices: Cumin,Marjoram, Cinnamon, Hot Chili, white or black pepper (little), ground ginger root , Coriander. They all work together, but you can also only use some of them...

1 chopped Tomato (I like it peeled)

350gr. of Rice (i prefer parboiled, but every country has it's rices, any type will do)

Virgin Olive Oil (you decide how much, I put at least 5 Spoons)

2 spoonfuls of salt.

Using a 30cm pan with high borders gives the best results. Don't let it stick.

 

 

Start cooking the turkey with fine chopped onions and the olive oil on medium fire for2-3 minutes, until it seems all cooked in the external, then add everything else except the rice. Stir everything well with a wooden spoon, cover and let it go for 5 mins at reduced heat.

Now uncover and let it's water evaporate, until you can see the oil clearly.

 

Add the Rice and roast it a little, always stirring

 

Then add 2 glasses hot water, and let it go. Now it's up to you to check if your rice quality is faster or slower to cook, this will determine how much it will stay covered and later uncovered. The goal is to have the rice properly cooked, without it being in liquid but also not too dried.

 

Let it rest a bit, as it mustn't be served too hot.

 

This recipe is an invention that mixes influences of different mediterranean traditions, from the middle-eastern spice melt to the Spanish concept and some Italian elements. A tasty and robust dry white wine is a nice complement.

 

Enjoy.

 

P.S. A great link for spices names and their translation in different languages:

http://www-ang.kfunigraz.ac.at/~katzer/engl/

[henrysb3]

We decided to give our freezer to our daughter, but it had a turkey in it that wouldn't fit in our fridge, and it is blistering hot here, so I decided to try it on the Weber. We improvised from recipes on the Weber website. You need an optional grate that has little flaps on the side so you can add charcoal from time to time. Keep the coals to the sides for indirect grilling. I used just one side for the fire. We rubbed it with orange peel and I added some mesquite chips to the coals now and then. It took about five hours to get to 180 degrees, and it was heavenly.

 

A fourteen pound turkey will fit the 22" Weber just fine.